mini_story_transcripts

they hit it off immediately. They liked each other immediately. Did Beckham hit it off with Tom? Yes he did. Beckham liked Tom. Did Tom hit it off with Beckham? Yea, Tom also liked Beckham. They hit it off, they both hit it off. Did Tom Cruise hit it off with Ronaldhino? No, no, no he didn’t hit it of with Ronaldhino in fact he hates Ronaldhino. He hates him. He likes Beckham because Beckham is cool and he looks good. So he hit it off with David Beckham, he did not hit it off with Ronaldhino. Who did Beckham hit it off with? Well he hit it off with Tom Cruise.

Alright, so they liked each other and Beckham said, “The bottom line Tom is that I want to be a movie star just like you.” What is Beckham’s final point? His most important point? Well the most important thing he wants is to be a movie star just like Tom Cruise. That’s the bottom line. Is the bottom line that Beckham wants money? No, no, that’s not the bottom line. Money is not the most important thing for Beckham right now. What is the bottom line for David Beckham? The bottom line is he wants to be a famous movie star. That’s his bottom line. That’s his main point, his final point, his most important point. What is Tom Cruise’s bottom line? Well maybe Tom Cruise’s bottom line is Scientology, his religion. That’s his bottom line; he wants to get David to join Scientology, to join his religion. That’s Tom’s secret bottom line. But Beckham’s bottom line is that he wants to be a movie star. So he says, “The bottom line is that I want to be a movie star just like you.” Tom Cruise says “Of course, my gut tells me you will be a big success in Hollywood.”

Does Tom know definitely, 100% that Beckham will succeed? No, no, no, no. He doesn’t know, not in his brain, not in his mind. His gut tells him that he will be a big success. He has a feeling, right? A feeling in his stomach. He has a deep feeling that Beckham will be successful, but he doesn’t really know; he’s not sure, he just has a strong feeling. His gut tells him that Beckham will be a big success in Hollywood. Does his gut tell him that Beckham will be a great soccer player in Los Angeles? No, no, his gut does not tell him he will be a great soccer player.

What does Tom’s gut tell him? Tom’s gut tells him that Beckham will be a big success in Hollywood as an actor. His gut doesn’t tell him that he’ll be a big success as a soccer player, maybe he won’t be. But his gut tells him that he’ll be a big success in Hollywood. Whose gut tells him that Beckham will succeed? Well Tom Cruise’s gut tells him that Beckham will be a big success in Hollywood.

And so Tom introduces Beckham to a director who is very powerful. The director makes a movie with Beckham but it’s a terrible movie; everybody hates it and they hate Beckham too. The public feels a powerful animosity towards Beckham. Does the public like David Beckham? No, they feel animosity towards him. Do they think Beckham is their enemy? Yes, that’s right, they think David Beckham is their enemy. He is the enemy of goodness, he is the enemy of good quality, he is the enemy of honesty. He is their enemy. They feel a powerful animosity towards him. They feel animosity towards Beckham.

Who feels animosity towards Beckham? Well the public; the American public feels animosity towards Beckham. Does Tom Cruise feel animosity towards Beckham? No, no, no, Tom still likes David Beckham. Tom does not feel animosity towards Beckham. The public feels animosity towards Beckham. Does Beckham feel animosity towards the public? No, no, Beckham loves the public, he wants them to love him. The public feels animosity towards Beckham but Beckham does not feel animosity towards the public. So the public feels animosity towards Beckham.

They can’t stand him. Do they love him? No, the opposite; they can’t stand him, they hate him.

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Who can’t the public stand? Well the public can’t stand David Beckham. Can the public stand Tom Cruise? Yea, yea, they still like Tom Cruise, but they can’t stand David Beckham. Can Beckham’s wife stand him? Yes, yes, his wife can stand him, she still likes him, she still loves him, but the public can’t stand David Beckham. They can’t stand him. They don’t like him. They hate him. They can’t stand him so they yell at him and throw things at him. “You suck, yea.” Beckham can’t deal with the animosity. Can Beckham handle the animosity, the bad feeling? No he can’t handle it. Can he survive it? No, he can’t survive it. He feels horrible, he feels terrible. He wants to hide. He can’t deal with the animosity. He can’t handle it, he can’t survive it. He can’t keep trying when everybody yells at him.

Why can’t he deal with the animosity? Well Beckham can’t deal with the animosity because he’s very sensitive. He’s a guy who’s very sensitive. So Beckham can’t deal with the bad feelings. Beckham can’t deal with the public’s animosity. Can Beckham deal with his coach? Yea, yea, Beckham can deal with his soccer coach. If his soccer coach becomes angry Beckham can deal with it; he can deal with it, no problem. But he can’t deal with the public’s animosity. He can’t deal with the public’s hatred. Beckham can’t deal with the public not liking him. He can deal with his coach, but he can’t deal with the public’s animosity. He is a guy who is very sensitive so he becomes scared.

He feels this is a dire situation. Does he think this is a dangerous and difficult and scary situation? Yes exactly, he feels this is a dire situation. Does he feel like it’s a risky situation, possibly dangerous? Yes, that’s right he feels it is a dire situation, a very, very risky situation. What is the dire situation? Well the dire situation is the public’s animosity. They hate him, that’s the dire situation. Does he have a dire situation with soccer, with football? No, no, no he’s still good at playing soccer. He does not have a dire situation with soccer. That’s not a dire situation. But his movie career has a dire situation. This is a dire situation. It’s a dire situation that the public hates him.

Beckham is so scared, he won’t leave his house. He keeps the windows closed and locked. He keeps his doors closed and locked. He becomes paranoid. Does Beckham think that everyone wants to hurt him? Yes, he’s paranoid. He thinks everybody wants to hurt him. Does he think Tom Cruise wants to hurt him? Yes, he does. He thinks that even Tom Cruise wants to hurt him. He’s paranoid. Does Tom really want to hurt him? No, no, Tom really does not want to hurt Beckham. Tom still likes Beckham, but Beckham’s paranoid. Beckham thinks everybody wants to hurt him, even Tom Cruise, even his wife. He thinks everyone wants to hurt him and everyone hates him, he’s paranoid. Is he paranoid about his wife? Yes he is. He thinks his wife also hates him. Is he paranoid about Tom Cruise? Yes, he thinks Tom Cruise wants to hate him also and wants to hurt him. Does he think that everyone in the world wants to hurt him? Yes he does. He’s very, very paranoid. He thinks everyone in the world hates him and wants to hurt him. He is super paranoid. He is so paranoid that he won’t leave his house. He won’t even go to play soccer.

Finally, his team coach, his team manager calls and says, “Beckham, this is a situation which is unacceptable, you’re fired!” Beckham loses his job and his movie career. He starts to cry, “Oh, no, everybody hates me.” He has no job and nobody can stand him. Does anybody like Beckham now? No, not anymore. Finally nobody likes him. Finally nobody can stand him. Can Tom Cruise stand him finally, in the end? No, even Tom Cruise can’t stand him in the end. Why can’t Tom Cruise stand him anymore? Well because he’s so paranoid right? He’s always telling Tom, “You want to hurt me, you want to hurt me, you hate me.” And so now even Tom cruise can’t stand him. Can his

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wife stand him anymore? No, even his wife can’t stand him. Now she wants a divorce because Beckham is not famous anymore, nobody likes him. So his wife wants a divorce. She can’t stand him, Tom Cruise can’t stand him, his coach can’t stand him, the public can’t stand him, nobody likes him.

Okay this one is a little long so no time to pause. So what I would like you to do, go back, listen to each sentence then pause, then repeat the sentence, copy my pronunciation. Then listen to the next sentence, pause again, repeat my pronunciation, copy my pronunciation and then play one more sentence and then pause and again, copy my pronunciation. After you do that, finally, try to tell all of the story yourself. Okay, go on to the Point of View Mini Stories Next.

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2. Bad Choices POV

Hello, welcome to the POV, Point of View Mini Stories for Bad Choices. Same story, different time. Let’s start the first one with three years ago. We’ll have to imagine this happened three years ago.

Three years ago David Beckham was a man who wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to be a famous movie star and a famous soccer player at the same time so he moved to Hollywood. He hooked up with Tom Cruise.

They hit it off immediately. Tom liked David; David liked Tom. Beckham said, “Tom, the bottom line is that I want to be a movie star just like you, can you help me?” Tom said, “Of course, my gut tells me you’ll be a good success in Hollywood.” So Tom introduced Beckham to a director who was very powerful. The director made a movie

with Beckham, but it was a terrible movie. Everybody hated it and they hated Beckham. The public felt a powerful animosity towards Beckham. They couldn’t stand him. They yelled at him and threw things at him. Beckham couldn’t deal with the publics animosity. He was a guy who was very sensitive so he became scared. He felt this was a dire situation. Beckham was so scared he wouldn’t leave his house. He kept the windows closed and the doors locked. He became paranoid and wouldn’t even leave to play soccer. Finally, his team manager said, “This is a situation which is unacceptable, you’re fired!” Beckham cried, he had no job and nobody could stand him.

Alright, let’s change the time a little bit. This time we’re gonna talk about the story but

that Beckham always wanted to do these things, okay? So these have been happening for a while.

Beckham has always been a man who has wanted to eat have his cake and eat it too. He has always wanted to be a famous movie star and a famous football player. He has always wanted to move to Hollywood. He has always wanted to hook up with Tom

Cruise and he has hoped they would hit it off immediately. David has always liked Tom Cruise; Tom has always liked David.

Well, one day, Beckham said, “Look Tom, the bottom line is that I want to be a movie star just like you, can you help me?” Tom said, “Of course, my gut tells me you’ll be a good success in Hollywood.” So Tom introduced Beckham to a director who was very powerful. The director made a movie with Beckham, but it was a terrible movie. Everybody hated it and they hated Beckham.

The public felt a powerful animosity towards Beckham. They couldn’t stand him. They yelled at him and threw things at him. Beckham couldn’t deal with the public's animosity. He was a guy who was very sensitive. He has always been a guy who was very sensitive. He felt this was a dire situation. Beckham was so scared he wouldn’t

leave his house. He kept the windows closed and the doors locked. He became paranoid and wouldn’t even leave to play soccer. Finally, his team manager said, “This is a situation which is unacceptable, you’re fired!” Beckham cried, he had no job and nobody could stand him.

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Okay, you’ll notice that I used the “perfect”, the “have been” , the had gone, that verb tense-- when I was talking about things that have always been true or that were true for a while in the past, maybe starting in the past until now or maybe over some time in the past; a range of time. And then when I talked about specific conversations, specific actions, I used the simple past. Alright, don’t think about that too much, listening is how you’ll improve your grammar; listening and practicing. Why is not a good question

about grammar or language, don’t ask why. If you want a PhD, a doctorate in linguistics you can ask why. If you want to be fluent, if you want to speak English easily and naturally don’t ask why. Just learn it, just listen carefully, just do the lessons, you will improve, I promise.

Alright next, let’s talk about the future and in fact maybe this is gonna be a true story, right? Let’s think, what’s going to happen to David Beckham when he comes to Hollywood. He’s moving to Los Angeles, that’s true. What’s going to happen? Let’s Imagine. This is what I think is going to happen. So now, the future.

Next year David Beckham is moving to Los Angeles and he is a man who wants to have his cake and eat it too. I think he will want to be a famous movie star and a famous football player at the same time. That’s why he’s moving to Hollywood. He’s gonna hook up with Tom Cruise-- they’ll hit it off . David will like Tom; Tom will like David. Beckham will say to Tom, “The bottom line is that I want to be a movie star just like you, can you help me?” Tom will say, “Of course, my gut tells me you’ll be a good success in Hollywood.” Tom will introduce Beckham to a director who will be very powerful. The director will make a movie with Beckham but it’s gonna be a terrible movie.

Everybody’ll hate it and they’ll hate Beckham too. The public will feel a powerful animosity towards Beckham. They won’t be able to stand him. They’ll yell at him and throw things at him. Beckham won’t be able to deal with the public’s animosity. He’s a guy who is very sensitive so he’ll be scared. He’ll feel this is a dire situation. Beckham will be so scared he won’t leave his house. He’ll keep the windows closed and the doors locked. He’ll become paranoid and he won’t even leave to play soccer. Finally his team manager will call and say “This is a situation which is unacceptable, you’re fired!” Beckham will cry. He’ll have no job and nobody will be able to stand him.

Alright, did you notice in the future, when we’re talking about the future we say “will be able to” instead of “can”. Instead of “can stand him” I’ll say “will be able to stand him" in the future. And you’ll also in the future, you have to listen very carefully because in real speech, not text books, but real American English we add “’ll” to the subject, right? “Beckham’ll do this, Beckham’ll do that”. Now in a textbook you’ll see “Beckham will go to Los Angeles. But we say “Beckham’ll”, the ‘ll gives you the future. Beckham’ll go to Los Angeles and in the text book you’ll see “going to”. Beckham is going to make

a movie. But in real speech we say “gonna”. Beckham’s gonna. We don’t say Beckham is going to, we say Beckham’s gonna. Beckham’s, apostrophe s, gonna. Beckham’s gonna make a movie, Beckham’s gonna. Beckham’ll go, Beckham’ll come, so we use is gonna and ‘ll for the future in real speech. That’s how we actually say it when we speak. So, listen carefully for that. Listen very carefully when you hear those future versions.

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Now please go back, listen to each version, pause after the version, tell it yourself, try to tell it yourself. If you can’t its okay, relax, rewind, listen again, rewind, listen again everyday. It’s not a race, relax, enjoy it. Okay, see ya next time.

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2. Double Standard MS

Welcome to the mini story for Double Standard. Let’s get started. There is a badass marine named Serin. He has an intimate relationship with Julia Roberts. They are very, very close.

Serin likes Julia but one day he decides she’s just not what he’s looking for. He breaks up with Julia. Julia feels betrayed. She says "how can you do this to me? Why are you hurting me? Please take me back."

But Serin won’t budge. He says "no I don’t want you Julia". Julia can’t get past the break-up. Every day she follows Serin. Every day she calls him.

At first, Serin turns a blind eye to her behavior but finally he can’t ignore it anymore. He yells at Julia and says "I won’t bow to this pressure. I won’t take you back. So leave me alone." Julia asks "do you have another girlfriend".

He says "yes I’m dating Hilary Clinton now. She’s rich and very powerful." "Really? Wow, I like her. I’m going to vote for her", says Julia.

She says, "I still feel a little uneasy but if you’re dating Hilary I guess it’s okay". Julia smiles and walks away. As she leaves she yells, "so is Bill free for dating?"

Okay one more time this time with questions. There is a bad ass marine named Serin -- bad ass ooh that’s slang. Bad ass means tough, very strong -- tough, very good at what he does. So very strong and tough. There’s a bad ass marine named Serin.

A marine is a kind of soldier, a kind of fighter. He has an intimate relationship with Julia Roberts. Are Serin and Julia Roberts only friends, just friends? No-no-no. They have an intimate relationship.

It means they’re very close not only friends, they are dating each other. They have an intimate relationship. Are they probably having sex? Yes, probably they are. They have an intimate relationship.

They are dating. They’re very, very close. Serin and Julia Roberts have an intimate relationship. Does Serin have an intimate relationship with Cameron Diaz? No-no.

He does not have an intimate relationship with Cameron Diaz. He has an intimate relationship with Julia Roberts. They are very, very close. Serin likes Julia but one day he decides she’s just not what he’s looking for. Does Serin want Julia?

No, he doesn’t. He decides she’s not what he’s looking for. She’s not really what -- she’s not really what he wants. So he decides she’s just not what he’s looking for. Is Hilary Clinton what he’s looking for? Yes, Hilary Clinton is what he’s looking for.

She’s rich and powerful that’s what he’s looking for. Serin’s looking for rich and powerful. Julia Roberts is not powerful enough so she’s not what he’s looking for. Is Cameron Diaz what Serin

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is looking for? No, he doesn’t want Cameron Diaz.

Cameron Diaz is not what he’s looking for. What is Serin looking for? Serin is looking for a rich and powerful woman like Hilary Clinton so he breaks up with Julia. Julia feels betrayed. Does Julia feel he did something bad to her?

Yes, exactly she feels -- she feels he did something bad to her. They were close, she trusted him, and then he hurt her. Did Serin betray Cameron Diaz? No, he didn’t betray Cameron Diaz. He never dated Cameron Diaz.

He never did anything bad to her. He did not betray Cameron Diaz. Did he betray Hilary Clinton? No, he did not. He did not hurt Hilary Clinton.

Did he betray Julia? Well, breaking up is not really betraying but Julia feels betrayed. She feels betrayed. Betrayed is the emotion e.d. feel betrayed. But really Serin did not betray her.

But anyway she says "how can you do this to me? Why are you hurting me? Please take me back". But Serin won’t budge. Will Serin change his mind?

No, he won’t budge. He won’t change at all. Will he change a little bit? No, Serin will not change not even a little bit. He won’t budge.

He won’t change at all. Will Julia budge? No, she doesn’t want to budge either. She wants him back one hundred percent. She doesn’t want to change either.

So Julia won’t budge and Serin won’t budge. Serin says "no I don’t want you Julia." But Julia says "yes I want you back." Neither one of them will budge. They won’t budge.

Julia can’t get passed the break-up. Can Julia forget the break-up? No she can’t forget the break-up. She can’t get past the break-up. Can Julia get past Mel Gibson?

Well, yeah she never dated Mel Gibson so she doesn’t need to get past Mel Gibson. Who does she need to get past? Well, she needs to get past Serin. Serin is her ex-boyfriend. She needs to get past Serin.

Can she get past Serin? No-no. She can’t get past him. She can get past Serin. She can’t get past the break-up.

She’s still upset. Is she still very sad about Serin and the break-up? Yes, that’s right she’s still very, very sad. She can’t get past the break-up. So every day she follows Serin.

Every day she calls him on the phone. At first, Serin turns a blind eye to her behavior. In the beginning, does Serin get upset by her behavior? No-no. In the beginning, he turns a blind eye.

He ignores her. He pretends he doesn’t see her. He pretends he’s not bothered by her behavior. So he turns a blind eye to her behavior. Does Serin turn a blind eye to Cameron Diaz?

No, he doesn’t ignore Cameron Diaz. Who does he turn a blind eye to? Well, he turns a blind

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eye to Julia Roberts. In fact, he turns a blind eye to her behavior. He ignores her behavior.

Does Julia turn a blind eye to Serin? No-no. She doesn’t ignore him. She does not turn a blind eye to Serin. Serin turns a blind eye to her behavior but she does not turn a blind eye to Serin.

She keeps calling him. Finally, Serin can’t ignore her anymore. He yells at Julia and says "I won’t bow to this pressure." Will Serin do what Julia wants him to do? No -no, he won’t.

He won’t bow to the pressure. He will not change because of her pressure. Will he bow to Cameron Diaz’ pressure? No, Cameron is not pressuring him. Cameron is just a friend.

She’s not pressuring him. Julia is pressuring him. He won’t bow to Julia’s pressure. Will he date Julia again? No, he won’t.

He won’t bow to her pressure. He won’t do what she wants. What does Julia want? Julia wants to date him again. So she’s pressuring him "please date me again, please date me again, please date me again". Will he bow to this pressure?

No, he won’t bow to this pressure. He says "I won’t take you back. So leave me alone." Julia asks, "do you have another girlfriend". And he says, "yes I’m dating Hilary Clinton now".

She’s rich and very powerful. Julia says "really. Wow, I like her. I’m going to vote for her. I still feel a little uneasy but if you’re dating Hilary I guess I’m okay".

Does she feel a little uncomfortable about Hilary? Yes, that’s right. She feels a little uneasy that he is dating Hilary. Is she very upset that Serin is dating Hilary? No-no-no.

She’s not very upset she’s just a little uneasy. She’s uneasy. She’s not very, very upset she’s just uneasy. Why is Julia uneasy? Well, she’s uneasy because Serin is dating a new girl.

But it’s Hilary Clinton and she likes Hilary so she’s only uneasynot very upset. Is Serin uneasy? No, Serin’s not uneasy. Serin is okay. He’s dating Hilary and he’s happy with Hilary.

So Serin is not uneasy about Hilary. Who is uneasy about Hilary? Well, Julia Roberts is a little uneasy about Hilary but just a little. It’s not bad. And she says "well I’m going to vote for her so if you’re dating Hilary it’s okay."

Finally, she turns and walks away. When she’s walking away Julia smiles and she yells to Serin, "so does this mean Bill Clinton is free for dating?"

Alright. Now one more time. This time I will pause after the key phrases. Please repeat the phrases after me but don’t just repeatcopy my intonation. Copy my pronunciation. Try to speak exactly like me. Let’s go.

There’s a bad ass marine named Serin. [pause] There’s a bad ass named Serin. [pause] He has an intimate relationship with Julia Roberts. [pause] He has an intimate relationship with Julia Roberts. [pause] They’re very, very close.

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Serin likes Julia but one day he decides she’s just not what he’s looking for. [pause] She’s just not what he’s looking for. [pause] He breaks up with Julia. Julia feels betrayed. [pause] Julia feels betrayed. [pause]

She says "how can you do this to me? Why are you hurting me? Please take me back". But Serin won’t budge. [pause] But Serin won’t budge. [pause]

He says "no I don’t want you Julia." Julia can’t get past the break-up. [pause] Julia can’t get past the break-up. [pause] Every day she follows Serin. Every day she calls him.

At first, Serin turns a blind eye to her behavior. [pause] At first, Serin turns a blind eye to her behavior. [pause] But finally he can’t ignore it anymore. He yells at Julia and says "I won’t bow to this pressure." [pause] I won’t bow to this pressure. [pause]

"I won’t take you back so please leave me alone". Julia asks "do you have another girlfriend". And Serin says "yes I’m dating Hilary Clinton now. She’s rich and very powerful". Julia says "really? Wow, I like her. I’m going to vote for her."

I still feel a little uneasy. [pause] I still feel a little uneasy. [pause] But if you’re dating Hilary I guess it’s okay. Julia smiles and walks away. As she leaves she yells "so is Bill Clinton free for dating?" [pause]

Alright. That is all of the mini story. Now pause and try to tell all of the story yourself. You don’t need to remember every word but try to use the new phrases and the new words correctly; if you cannot just relax and listen again. Listen to this story every day for one week or two weeks and you will internalize the new phrases. You’ll also internalize a lot of basic grammar and a lot of basic pronunciation by listening again, and again, and again.

Alright. See you next time. Bye-bye.

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